A nice core workout to brew up a good rant

I trust this explains why I didn't run tonight. I didn't even go out to shovel the driveway. It's still snowing lightly and the morning will come soon enough, when I have to go out anyway.

So instead I went down and did a good solid core workout. 2x10 pushups, crunches, single leg squats, tri dips, plank (!!!), and other stuff, including some stretches to round out the hour. Oddly enough it went by really quick, listening to podcasts of The Current. One article on diminished value, and the other on the rule changes at the Calgary Stampede.

The diminished value is an insurance scam. Supposedly they are supposed to pay for your car to be repaired after a collision to just the way it was before. Supposedly the repair is just that. The problem is that nobody, nobody at all, you included, will pay the same amount for a car that's been in a collision compared to the same one that hasn't been. Here in Canada you have to disclose if it's been in a collision. The insurance will not compensate you for that loss. It might be negligible if you drive the car till the wheels fall off. But if you were to try to sell it the day after it was repaired, you might find the value has dropped a significant amount. Why shouldn't you be compensated for that, especially if the collision was no fault of yours? Predictably, the insurance companies don't even want to talk about it. They say that drop in value doesn't exist. Bastards.

The Stampede changed the rules about Chuckwagon racing. They had an outrider on, who didn't really have an opinion, other that it would be harder to get into the business for younger riders. Then they had a guy from the BC SPCA or similar organization. The only rodeo event they would even consider marginally acceptable is barrel racing. The 'chucks, the bull riding, the roping, all of it would go. All they see is the potential for injury to the animals, and don't think that's an acceptable subject for human entertainment. Even discussing it makes you uncivilized. These guys think that the Alberta SPCA are traitors for working with the Stampede. The program also had Kelly Sutherland on, and he had the most considered opinions of the three.

I hate to see the animals injured. In fact, I cheer when some human gets mangled by the fallout from one of the events. Humans have been sticking it to the animals for a long time now, and it's nice to see one of them getting some of their own back. After all, the human knew the risks and chose to participate. My problem is that the animals don't have a choice. (And since you ask, why yes, I take a very Darwinian view of humans that are maimed or killed by creatures out in the wild. We're the ones who are supposed to be smarter than the animals. If you aren't when you walk through their home, you deserve to be lunch for a cougar or bear.)

Clearly bullfighting is over the line, since the point is to actually torture the poor bull to death. Where do we draw the line? Horses are injured in horse races and show jumping. What fox hunting? (The poor little fox!) What's the animal injury rate for polo? Which leads me to a more violent version of the game called bushkashi. The dolphins and killer whales in various zoos are probably bored out of their minds providing entertainment for people. Does mental torment count? What about lions and tigers at the circus? Does dog sled racing count? What about testing new vaccines or drug treatments? Cats and dogs face a serious risk of disease at breed shows. Do we ban any those? Some of them? Which? How do we decide?

After the core I got on Estela for a quick, easy spin for 15 minutes. My legs felt fast and light. Spun just enough to get my blood moving better. Spinning at 125 felt good, but getting over 140 started producing some knee twinges so I backed down right away. All in all a nice evening to be inside.